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Court says Monsanto's pledge is good enough

Published online: Jun 13, 2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington has affirmed a previous ruling that organic growers have no reason to block Monsanto from suing farmers for illegally growing their genetically modified crops.

Monsanto has pursued hundreds of patent infringement cases against growers for planting its protected crops without paying royalties.

Organic farmers and seed dealers filed suit in 2011 arguing that Monsanto could sue them if a patented GM trait inadvertently showed up in their fields even though they didn't want it. They sought preemptive action to prevent Monsanto from suing them should that happen.

Monsanto has pledged it would not seek action against anyone selling a crop with less than 1 percent of modified seed. The court ruled that that was sufficient protection for the organic growers.

American Farm Bureau Federation president Zippy Duvall, in testimony before the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works last week, recounted a long list of regulatory abuses and missteps by the federal government.

The budget deal approved by Congress and signed by President Trump includes a number of important agricultural provisions that will help America’s farmers and ranchers and support American food security.